Metroliner Crash Leads to Proposed Increase in Railroad Accident Liability Cap

A California congressman recently introduced a bill that could change liability in train accident cases.

Rep. Elton Gallegly, who first put this bill forward, is looking to change a federal law that mandates a $200 million limit on damage payouts to victims of train crashes. (WCxKit)

This $200 million dollar cap is a provision of the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, and applies to the aggregate of all passenger claims including punitive damages. Rep. Gallegly’s bill looks to increase the cap to $500 million dollars.

There is much conjecture that the impetus for this bill is the Metrolink crash of 2008, as the one of the provisions of the bill is that the new $500 million dollar cap would apply retroactively.

The Metrolink crash occurred on Sept. 12 of 2008 in Los Angeles, taking the lives of 25 people and injuring more than 100. It has been said that the train engineer was texting on his cell phone leading up to the crash. Gallegly feels strongly that $200 million dollar cap is far from adequate in compensating the victims of the Metrolink crash. (WCxKit)

According to Gallegly, “I met with many of the victims of the crash last month. Through no fault of their own, many now have injuries that will require a lifetime of medical treatment. Others lost a spouse or parent who was their primary means of support. The current cap will not even meet the medical needs of the survivors of one of the worst passenger train accidents in modern history.”

Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. Contact: [email protected] or 860-553-6604.

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